River Flows in You
by Nobody Odd
Summary: College freshman Allen Walker is trying to pass his 101 classes. On a rainy night before summer finals, he hits a girl with his car, but she lives and even walks away from the accident. What's her secret? What he finds out may kill him... AU
1. In Which Allen Loses Half His Mind

**Why, hello there! -waves- My name is Nobody Odd, based on two of my favorite series / books. D. Gray-Man is one of those things in which I love, so I hope to please you with my first fanfic, entitled "River Flows in You." I do hope it is to your liking! So, let us get started with chapter one!**

**Disclaimer: I own little, and therefore do not own DGM, though I do admit to owning awesome stripped socks.**

1. In Which Allen Walker Loses Half His Mind

Her body broke into a mesh of white cloth and blood, splattering onto the asphalt canvas.

And yet.

The car screeched to a halt, the person driving stumbling into the road dimly illuminated by the lone streetlight on the corner. The white stripes for pedestrians stained a darker color as the ticking clock on the driver's dashboard changed to 8:14. He paused at the edge of the broken body, trembling, as his hands fumbled to reach for a cellphone. He patted every pocket until he remembered—ah, yes, it was still in the car, right next to the now-spilled Thai food. He glanced back, then hurried for the phone. Talking to someone, especially after they got hit by a car, was something he lacked when it involved him getting in trouble.

It flipped open to tell him he had no bars. Not a single one, since he was in the country where nothing spoke but the wisps of summer wind and rumbling clouds. The stretch of road continued for miles without houses both ways. What was a person, a young girl, no less, striding about on a dark street while a thunderstorm loomed in the distance? For what purpose did she have to walk towards nowhere? He dropped the phone and hurried back over to the body.

"H-Hello?" he whispered, shaking the body once. Something cricked, causing him to cringe while his hand shook. "A-Are you still alive? Hello? Please tell me you're alive."

One hand, broken in several places, snapped, popped, and contorted in the wrongest way possibly to grasp him by the collar of his shirt. The rest of the body followed; her skirt nearly dragged off her waist as she clung to him. Her teeth, most fallen out from the collision, broke into a ghastly smile that made his eyes widen. Something dripped onto his pants, but he didn't dare to see what. The eyes, dark yellow, stared him deep into his own. Words sputtered from her lips as she spoke, saliva slobbering his cheeks.

"I cannot be killed," she said, "but you, boy, had the nerve to do something such as this. To run someone over. Hah! You would be arrested in an instant. Be glad you got lucky, boy."

Her hand slid from his collar as she rose to her feet, snapping every bone back into place. Her stained clothes she briefly wiped before snapping her neck so it didn't tilt oddly anymore. She chuckled at the boy's surprised face, the way his wide eyes stared at her kind of made him cute. She bent down and held up his chin with her forefinger. "Don't just sit there," she said, smiling. "It's not everyday that you run someone over and drive home without an interrogation by the police. Now, go on—I have an interview to attend to."

He watched as she opened a now-broken pink umbrella with a pumpkin on top and strode down the non-existent sidewalk, hopping once into the tall grass before vanishing from sight. He rubbed at his eyes, then glanced at the spot where he hit her.

The blood disappeared.

~X~

The infamous white-haired boy, known for his charming smile, had many names. Some called him "that weird kid," others called him "what's-his-name." His formal name was Allen Walker, which few retained to their memory. He already owned a house, inherited by his foster-father when he died tragically, and worked like anyone else. He studied at a local college that required to live in the dorms, so he rarely visited the place except when he needed to. The drive from the heart of the downtown metropolis to the sticks was about a thirty minute drive on a road few knew existed.

So, it was odd for him to be on said-road in the first place.

His roommate, Lavi Bookman, immersed himself into studying as Allen told his story. The redhead glanced at him when he mentioned the car accident, his lone eye widened when he mentioned the girl was still alive, and he forgot all about studying when he got to the part where she walked off down the road and into the long grass fields. He sat there, unblinking, as Allen looked at his hands.

"I don't get it," he said, hugging his legs to his chest. "How did she just walk away?"

His roommate stared for a moment longer before re-opening his advanced calculus book. "Well, what you could've seen was just a ghost. I mean, that road is famous for ghost stories. It almost sounds as if you met 'The Burnt Girl.' You heard of that story, yeah?"

Allen nodded. The road he lived on, called "Pushaw" road, was famous for the amount of strange deaths that occurred between five in the evening and three fifty-nine in the morning. "The Burnt Girl" happened when a family traveled through the road, only for the car to breakdown. The parents told their daughter to go and fill the bucket full of gas so that they could get the car running again. She got the gas and, halfway back to the car, a group of boys spotted her and dumped the oil on her. Then, they lit a match and burned her in the ditch with nobody to see for miles. "I know, but she felt _warm_, Lavi, like a living person kind of warm."

"That's absurd." The redhead shook his head. "No way in hell can someone walk away from an accident like that, especially if they looked dead like you said she did. Unless," he raised an eyebrow, "you were tripping on acid."

"I would never!" he shouted, and his friend burst out laughing.

"I was kidding. Jeez, man, take a chill pill. C'mon," he said, seizing the boy by the neck, "let's go and get ourselves a sandwich and a smoothie, alright? If you calm down, we can try and make more sense of this mysterious accident. Sound good?"

"So long as I don't have to deal with Kanda, sure."

"Aw, you two still on bad terms? Why don't you kiss and make up already?"

Lavi got a punch to the face as Allen left in a huff, storming down the stairs. His roommate, rubbing at the forming bruise and grinning, followed behind him.

Lunch hour caused many people to flock to the sandwich shop. College students and locals mingled together, sodas opened here, sandwiches chewed there, and one open table left. Lavi seized it for them as Allen ordered their food, having six times more sandwiches than his roommate. He sat down at the booth, glancing out the window. The small park, where a fountain spurted water, had chairs outside, occupied by students and professors alike. The weather was perfect, unlike two days ago, when a storm raged upon the outskirts of town.

"Holy crap, Allen, how many sandwiches do you need?"

"About this many for a snack." He unwrapped the first sandwich and sighed. "I still don't understand, though. Am I thinking too hard? Was I tripping on acid? Did someone slip something in my Thai food that evening or what? She looked so little, too. Like a preteen, maybe younger."

Lavi shrugged. "I still believe in my tripping on acid theory, to be honest. Dude, speaking of theories, how're you doing on that studying for your Bio 101 test? Isn't that in a week or so?"

"Don't remind me." He groaned. "I can't even manage to stay awake through my professor's lectures, let alone reading the textbook. All of it just doesn't make sense to me. That's why there are other professions aside from Biology. Maybe I should take up philosophy or history or something like that, but science? No. You'd have to kill me."

"I could hit you with a car. Would that work?"

He glared. "Not funny, Lavi."

"C'mon, lighten up, I'm just trying to make you feel better."

"Yeah, well, it's not working, so don't bother." He finished his sixth sandwich and glanced out the window, blinked once, and felt his eyes widen. His hands dropped to his side as he gawked, looking past some college girls and staring at a peculiar individual with spiky hair and yellow eyes. The eyes looked right at him, the smile reappearing with all teeth instead of three. She waved.

"Allen? You look as if you've seen a ghost or something."

"It's _her!_" he shouted, pointing at the girl while looking at Lavi. "She's right—there?"

He looked for her in the swarms of people, but she vanished again like the time they first met. All he saw was summer clothes and ice cream in people's hands. The redhead followed his finger and frowned, shaking his head. "I don't see anyone."

"She vanished," he said, letting his finger drop by his side. "She was just there a second ago."

Lavi frowned as he chewed on the last bit of his sandwich. "M'not sure what to believe anymore, dude, 'cause you're acting all crazy." He stood up and stretched. "Man, that was good. Now I'm all ready to take a nap. You?"

"Aren't you going to study for finals?"

"Me? Pshaw. As if. You know me," he grinned, leading the way out of the sandwich shop, "I have a memory like an elephant. All I need to do is look at the pages of the book, take a snapshot for my memory, and I'm all set. Hey, don't look so glum, glum-chum," he slapped a hand on his back, "some people are just born a genius. I'm certain Yuu's studying hard, too."

Allen groaned at the sound of his arch-nemesis's name, following his roommate back to the dorm. He glanced back to see the fountain, checking to see if the girl was there. She wasn't; only the water, the students, and the baker who put out new samples of bread beside his shop. Pigeons shot up from the top of a building, a few feathers tearing off their wings in the process. He caught one and stared at it with curious eyes, then dropped it without another thought. It fluttered behind him, revealing beneath the gray a patch of red.

Upon the rooftop of a bank, directly above the large town clock, the girl sat with her parasol, recently fixed, resting on her shoulder. Chocolate ice cream dribbled down the side of her face as she watched the pair head back to the dormitory, unaware of her eyes following them. Three hundreds years came and went, not with a single bit of fun. Her family, yes, entertained her, but it didn't fill the void inside her, craving to torment ordinary beings. But now, upon meeting a normal boy, she had a small thrill reawakening inside her. She wanted to watch that boy writhe with pain, with disgust. She wanted that boy—a pure, innocent looking individual—to fall into the darkest depths of the human heart.

She giggled as she licked away at her ice cream.

The boy would belong to her.

~X~

"...base ATP production for the Kreg's cycle... isn't that 32 or something?" He tapped his pencil onto the small desk, hearing the sleeping roommate snore away without a care in the world. The temptation to swat him with a pillow overwhelmed him, but his exhaustion made his muscles refuse to budge. He glanced at the alarm clock, beaming green number at him that read "2:34." He groaned as he reached for the coffee he hated more than anything and took another swig. The bitterness nearly made him choke, but he kept his composure and turned the page.

"Ugh... Lavi?" He shook his roommate. "Lavi, can you help me?"

"Nn... maybe." The redhead sat up. "What?"

"What does this say?"

His roommate tilted his head before taking the book out of Allen's hands. "Holy crap, who the heck is your professor, making you learn this word? It's... I can't even pronounce it. It's a lung disease you get when you inhale silica dust or whatever. This word is also known as the longest word in the English dictionary. Man, I really feel bad for you now. You must have Komui Lee, then, huh? I took his class last semester, but _damn _does he have a cute little sister."

"Lavi!"

"It's true." He yawned. "You met Lenalee, yeah? I know you like her."

His face heated up. "I do not."

"Do too."

"You might, Lavi, but I know better not to get involved with Komui's sister, of all people. I think he'd kill whoever tries to touch her." He closed his biology book and sighed, relaxing in his chair. "I don't think I can handle anymore studying. College is going to be the death of me. Not only do I have a house to pay off, I still have to pay off my caretaker's debts, the lazy jerk. Add that with college tuition, and I'm done for." He groaned again. "I should've joined the Coast Guard or something beforehand, because this is ridiculous."

"That's what Yuu did. Said it really helped him out."

Allen clicked off the lamp before climbing the ladder of the bunk bed and collapsed onto his pillow, exhausted from reading the cursed textbook. He didn't understand how professors could bear to stand reading the whole thing. "Yeah, but Kanda's dumb," he replied, snuggling underneath the inviting blankets. "Like, incredibly dumb. If I put him on a scale of one to ten, I would put him at negative nine thousand or something."

"You're both dumb," his roommate mumbled. "There, I settled it. G'night."

He huffed, too irritated and tired to come up with a decent comeback as the clock ticked closer to three in the morning. Part of his memory recalled, in a statistics class in high school, that more people died at three in the morning than any other time during the day. He grimaced at the thought before rolling over, facing the wall. Death. Death was a funny thing, the greatest mystery of all time, and yet, no one, even with the nerve to try, figured out the mystery behind it. Were there truly any doors beyond the grave?

Or was it a void? Empty? Darkness?

And who was it to say it was dark?

He buried his head beneath the pillow, unable to think further of the idea. Since he hit that girl, his mind thought of disturbing things, ranging from suicide to any other aspect of death. Perhaps he developed an obsession, and an unhealthy one, at that. If he never hit the girl, his mind would be free of the constant torment presented by his memory. Grimacing, he sat up, staring into the darker corners of the shadowed room. His roommate snored away as the faint green hues illuminated only half the room, books revealed by the dim light. They called out to him, beckoning like a siren beckoned to the sailors, their pages laying open.

_Stop it._ He covered his eyes with his sweating hands. _Stop it, leave me alone. I need to sleep._

Dim lights. The street light. The blood, the smell of asphalt having a coppery tinge. The smile, the eyes, the hand grasping him by the collar and yanking him forward to see something no one should see. The grass whispering lies while the wind tugged at his hair, begging him to look away. He can't, he won't, as the girl laughs, descending into the grass, whispering with it—

"_Catch me if you can."_

He jolted awake at the sound of the alarm clock, beeping to tell him it was six in the morning. His gasps smothered by the beeps, he calmed himself down before Lavi slammed his hand on the clock, obviously agitated. He watched from the corner of his eye as the redhead rose from the depths of his warm blankets, reaching for clothes of some sort. He strapped on boots, grabbed a black shirt, then glanced up at the terrified boy. "Oi, Allen, aren't you coming along to work out? The gym's gonna be packed if we don't hurry."

"Not today, Lavi."

He put on his shirt and frowned. "What's up? Is that accident still bothering you? C'mon, exercising might relieve you a little bit."

"Go on without me. I need to study."

"Alright. Catch up if you change your mind, okay?"

The door closed behind him, leaving Allen alone in the dorm, morning light streaming through the window. Particles of dust revealed by the light hovered and floated over the textbooks, the dirty clothes, the backpacks, the snack food. Lazily, he slung his legs over the edge of the bed and stretched, eying a book Lavi left bookmarked on the table. He climbed down the small ladder and snatched it up, observing the title—_Something Wicked This Way Comes_. Author, Ray Bradbury. He never had a peaking interest in books, let alone science fiction, so he put the book down before rummaging through his textbooks.

Then he paused, looking back at the book.

_Something wicked this way comes._

He shuddered, a sudden cold feeling seizing him as he tried to focus his attention upon the subject of the day—English—and ignored it. A creak made him drop the book and whirl his head around, only to see Komui Lee's daughter, Lenalee, standing there, smiling. She approached him with a clipboard tucked under one arm, pen in the other hand. "Good, you're awake," she said. "I have a favor to ask. We have a tour today, and I was wondering if I could use your room. You know, for the incoming freshmen next year. Most already got their acceptance letters."

"Oh, sure. Do you need any help with the actual tour?"

She tapped the pen against her chin. "Well," she said, "the tour itself is in five minutes—"

"This early in the morning?"

She blinked. "Allen, it's eight in the morning. That's when we always do our tours."

He glanced back to the clock, the numbers revealing she spoke the truth. He looked back to her and cracked a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?"

She frowned before whacking him upside the head with her clipboard. "Allen, you look exhausted! You haven't been sleeping well lately, haven't you? Is Lavi giving you a hard time? Or is it Kanda? What is it that's troubling you? I can try to help, if you let me." She blinked as her watch beeped. "Oh, no! Hey, Allen, could you please take over the tour for me? It's in fifteen minutes, but I just remembered I have a doctor's appointment! Oh, God, I am so sorry for the inconvenience—"

He shook his head. "No, it's fine, I can handle it. They're meeting at the auditorium, right?"

"Yes. Thank you so much! You're a lifesaver."

"No problem."

It wasn't his first time giving a tour. When Lenalee left, he quickly organized the room, then organized himself. He put on clean clothes and brushed his teeth and hair before putting on his shoes. He picked up the clipboard she left behind, along with the pen, then looked back at the room to confirm everything was okay. Nodding to himself, he left the room, heading towards the auditorium. Maybe this would help him stop thinking about the accident.

He arrived at the school's auditorium, greeted by parents and incoming students alike. He glanced them over, counting them in his head and calling out their name to confirm they were there. Most checked off except for two names. He glanced around. "Is Derek Littlefield and, uh, Road Camelot present?"

Silent shakes of the head and shrugs answered him—that is, until the double doors opened, revealing a stout girl wearing a short skirt appeared. Allen froze at the sight of her. Her brown eyes weren't yellow, and her skin wasn't as dark, but the cunning smile and pink umbrella could not say more. Words failed him when she walked over, nodding at other students. "My name is Road Camelot," she said, her words dripping like candle wax from a burning candle. "I'm not late for the tour, am I? If I am, blame my uncle—he's a horrible driver. Nearly hit a pedestrian on the way here."

He swallowed hard before nodding. "Uh, yes, you are here in time, Miss Camelot."

She giggled. "Please, call me 'Road'. Formalities really make me sick."

He cleared his throat, eying Road the same way she eyed him. "Welcome to Appalachian State University. My name is Allen Walker, and I am your tour guide for the day. Please, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

As expected, Road's hand went up. "I have a question. How did your hair get so white?"

He frowned as giggles went through the rest of the group. "Please refrain from asking such personal questions, Miss Camelot."

"Why not?" she asked, pouting. "I like asking personal questions."

He ignored her and proceeded to give the tour. First the dorms, then the main teaching halls, the museum, the dining hall, the small park, and the remaining bits of the campus. Parents and students both had questions, ranging from "How much snow do you guys get?" and "Are there any major fraternities here?" Allen answered them to the best of his ability, but he felt as if his answers lacked any sense of meat to them. His mind was elsewhere, eying the young girl who followed his every move.

At last, the tour ended. Parents departed with their children as Allen found himself alone with the girl in the empty auditorium. She grinned at him as he tried to ignore her.

"What's the matter, 'Allen'? Are you feeling okay?"

"You're the girl I hit the other day," he breathed.

She snickered as her fingers caressed his cheek, making his breathing hitch. "Ah, poor little you," she said, brushing away some of his hair covering his eyes. "You look so tired. Have I been haunting your dreams, by any chance? Has your mind slowly deteriorated in the past few days? Look at me." She grabbed his chin and made him look into her eyes. "I'm alive, aren't I? I can still walk. I'm not hurt, though I should be. And, normally, I would kill you for finding out my secret. But Allen, you are so adorable when you look at me like that. And because you're cute, I've decided to spare you."

"What are you?"

She blinked, then burst into a roar of laughter. "What am _I_? I am human, like you, only more so. I have found a secret that the world wants to hide. I keep it to myself and my family."

She stood on her tip-toes, bringing him into a hug, whispering, "I am _immortal_, Allen Walker."

~X~

**Chapter one, done! Tell me what you think! Favorite, alert, or leave a review. I'll see you in chapter 2! **


	2. In Which Theories Become Realities

**Oh, man, I'm sorry for the long wait period. I did, though, manage to bring about an update! If I do say so myself, writing is hard. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially on trying to make it have a plot. (Oh, those dreadful things in which stuff actually happens! Less of that these days, it seems.) I do hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man isn't mine. Pokemon White Version? Oh yes!**

2. In Which Theories Turn to Realities

The sun peaked high above the fountain, its rays glittering through the water falling into the pool in a graceful arc. Such a scene received praise, but Allen had his own problems to figure out before admiring beauty. For one, finals were next week. Big issue, indeed. For two, his sleeping pattern kept slipping away from him, which made studying harder, therefore tying into problem number one. And, lastly, number three, was the girl who sat beside him on the outdoor bench, holding a plastic cup and sipping away at a strawberry-banana smoothie.

"I have to admit," she said, slurping up the deliciousness, "that after years of eating sweets, I have never tasted a smoothie so great. I have to remember this place later on down the line, but, then again, it might not be here in three hundred years." She cracked a grin at Allen's nervous expression. "Come on, at least look like you're enjoying yourself. Don't be such a spoilsport."

He glanced around, trying to find someone, anyone he was familiar with to cal them over. But the seniors mixed with juniors, and not another freshman—or at least any freshmen he recognized—came forward to greet him. She followed his gaze to the mass of people swarming the local shops, buying treats or summer clothes, and laughed.

"You're not trying to run, are you?"

"No." He didn't think he could if he tried. Perhaps he could lose her somehow when they left the cafe, but being immortal, as she said, probably gave her something more, something powerful. He didn't want to test her "powers" out yet, and definitely not through anger. She seemed as unstable as an aged flag strapped to a flag pole, threads loosening as hurricane winds dared to rip it off. "No, I was just looking to see if there were any deals at that shop over there. I do need some new clothes before summer break begins."

"Shopping, eh?" Road licked her lips, then sucked her fingers before tossing the plastic cup into the garbage dispenser. "Well, what are you waiting for, Allen?" She giggled, hoisting him up. "Let's go clothes shopping for you!"

"Wait—I-I don't have any money on me. You made me spend my pocket change on that smoothie."

She paused, then tilted her head in disapproval. "Figures. You humans and your money, is there nothing else more valuable to you than that? Very well, we'll just have to get more money. Do you happen to have any where you live, perchance?"

He nodded, then saw his fatal mistake as she grinned.

"Then, let's go to your place and get some!"

I have to lie, he thought, I have to. But, where else can I go? I have no one else's dorm key, and even if I did, that would be stealing. Stealing is wrong. Although I have a feeling if I let her into my dorm, something far worse is going to happen than filching forty dollars...

She latched onto his arm, smirking as he walked, stiff, towards the dormitory. They passed the library, with its green domes pointing high into the sky. Its glass observatory looked empty from where he stood, filled with nothing but read-books and empty chairs. He loved it up there, and hoped he would have spare time after this to hide in its glass walls. She yanked his arm, disrupting his thoughts as she pointed at a dull brown building.

"What's that?"

"The dormitory," he answered.

"You live there?"

"It's a requirement for freshmen."

She let go of his arm and skipped her way up the concrete steps, stopped halfway, and hopped onto the lawn for the remainder of the trip. She tapped her foot impatiently as Allen took his time, grasping the railing out of exhaustion and fear. She tugged at the door as he reached the last step, only the door didn't open. Puzzled, she tried again, then glared.

"What gives? Why won't it open?"

"You need a key card to open the door." He rummaged through his pocket and pulled the piece of blue plastic out of his pocket. "You slide it through this machine, and it recognizes you as a student of the university. Did you not pay attention to the tour I gave?" He slid the card and opened the door, regretfully allowing Road to skip inside. She tapped her pink umbrella on her shoulder twice, inspecting the area before turning back to him.

"Now where?"

He stepped ahead of her, wandering of the stairs before reaching his hall. It stank of food and unwashed clothes as trash littered the hall. Fellow students laughed in the hall with their doors wide open to let people in. Several students glanced at the seemingly-young girl before immediately looking away. Her eyes glared at all who looked at her as Allen counted the doors down the hall. Hopefully Lavi would be there, taking a nap or reading a book. He felt better with the redhead around. Hell, even Kanda would work at this point, and that was his least-favorite person, bar none.

He stopped before room 314, frowning at the closed door. Lavi always kept the door open if he was around, and only closed it at night or when he was away at class. Road jumped onto his back and giggled her eerie giggle. "Is this it?"

"Could you get off my back?" He slid the card through the electronic device and opened the door.

No Lavi. Only a freshly opened bag of potato chips left behind in a rush. A note sat on the small desk in the corner: _"Forgot I had class today. I'll be back 1:30. —Lavi." _He crumpled up the note and tossed it in the small wastebasket before hopping up to the upper bunk of the bunk bed. His wallet, if not on his person, hid beneath the pillow. He pocketed the wallet as Road inspected the tiny dorm, turning her nose at a pair of dirty socks she found. "You live with a disgusting roommate," she commented, now rifling through a textbook.

"He's not so bad." He descended the small ladder and felt a hand push him onto Lavi's bunk. He fell onto his back as a finger pressed against his lips, the yellowish eyes returning and her skin darkening ten shades. His wrists were captured by her other hand while she sat on him, grinning.

"Are you afraid, Allen Walker?"

A nod. He was, too. He was more scared now than the time he hit her with his car that rainy night. He swallowed as she sat him up, head turning toward the small dresser by the window. The alarm clock ticked to noon. Lavi wouldn't be back for another hour and a half. She opened one of the drawers and pulled out a sharp steak knife, lifting it out dramatically in an attempt to mortify her prey. The blade glimmered under the fluorescent lighting. She approached him, knife in hand, smirk dancing on face, gait like a dancer's.

And an arc. The arc of the raised blade came down upon his face, threatening to stab him in his eye.

The blade stopped, however. He shuddered as she moved it away from him and twirled it into the air. "I kid," she said. "I wouldn't risk making you all bloody before we go shopping. I did, however, want to show you a little something, precious widdle Alwen."

Black blood spurted onto his clothes and the blankets beneath him, staining the green fabric with dark spots. Something dripped from his from his forehead, but he didn't dare touch the warm substance to see what it was. She guffawed at his expression as the knife's handle protruded from her chest, blade pierced into her white shirt. She slowly pulled it out and stabbed herself again, and again, and again, until her clothes stained black. Finally, she took the knife and pressed it against her neck, making a little nick.

"As you can see," she said, chopping her own head off, "I cannot be killed."

Allen screamed, but a hand covered his mouth. The headless body's other arm searched for the missing head, which rested by the foot of the bed. The hand picked the head up and lifted it up. Road's pupils turned small, irises black as her sullen expression turned into an ear-to-ear grin. The body thrust her head towards him as she laughed, the wound still dripping black droplets onto his jeans. He shook violently as he tried to pry the hand off his mouth, but it held him still as she spoke.

"Hush, little baby, don't you cry," she said, "everything's going to be all right. Road's gonna get you a little mockingbird. And if that mockingbird doesn't sing, then she's gonna get you a little ring." The hand placed her head back onto her neck. The wound healed itself and vanished. "And if that little ring breaks, then she's gonna get mad at all your mistakes. And if all your mistakes includes you drawing breath, then she's gonna get you a little present known as 'Death.'"

She withdrew her hand from his mouth and handed him the knife, but his hand trembled too hard for him to have a decent grip. It fell by his side as his lips quivered and his eyes remained wide, watching her glance out the window, then return to look at him. Words clogged and died in his throat while the blood in his face drained. She was still alive. She kept breathing. She kept staring, blinking, and staring at him, almost confused at his fear.

"Buh... the... y... you... s-st... sta..." His stammers got her to laugh again.

"Yes, Allen, I stabbed myself. Stabbed myself in sixteen different places, to be precise—Oh! And the chopping off of my head. That poor blade's broken now. I think a piece of it is still embedded in my neck. It would explain why my neck keeps itching. Hold on." She took the broken blade and stabbed herself once, then tore the wound wider with her fingernails. She felt around in her wound, chewing her lip in disapproval. "Ah, there it is." She tugged at the broken piece and yanked it out of the wound, smiling to herself out of accomplishment. "Much better. Anyways, do you now believe me? Any other human would've died by now from blood loss. Yet, here I am: Standing and talking to you, even after I chopped off my head."

"H... How...?"

"How? Hm, I can't tell you that yet." She beamed another grin. "But I can also tell you that immortality isn't the only power I possess. I am a being beyond your normal comprehending."

"Wh... what do you... what do you want from me?" His hands grew numb. Did she intend to kill him the same way she "killed" herself? Would she torture him? He stopped breathing when she reached out and stroked his cheek.

"You just have to be you, and that is all I desire right now. I want _you,_" she chuckled, "to be _mine._"

Her hands kept his head in place as she kissed him, muffling his questions. A small squeak of surprise managed to slip through his lips. Her fingers ran through his hair as she stepped away from him, licking her lips in approval. "My favorite foods: Smoothies, chocolate and Allen. I hope to see you soon again, but I'm afraid we have to cut our meeting short... for now."

A door appeared, checkered in pink and black and shaped, almost, like a heart. She opened the door and grinned, tapping her pink umbrella over her shoulder again. "Let's play again soon, Allen."

The door disappeared, leaving him with his textbooks and stained apartment. The stains, however, were on his least-important worries list. Firstly, she just stabbed herself and lived. Secondly, she kissed him without saying why. And thirdly, a door appeared out of nowhere and disappeared once she stepped inside. He stood up shakily, bending down and touching the black bloodstain. It vanished once he touched the stain. He turned to see the blood on the bed was gone, too.

The door opened.

"_...I just wanna live while I'm alive / It's my life—_huh? Allen? What're you doin' on the floor?"

Allen glanced at the clock. "It's only 12:15. Why are you back early?"

"Turned out class was canceled." He shrugged. "Teacher's kid got really sick, apparently. So I'm free for right now!" His grin gave way to a frown. "Dude, you look seriously shaken up. Did something happen? Hey! Why is my steak knife broken? Agh, old man's gonna kill me for that."

Lavi plopped his stack of books onto the small desk. One of the smaller books toppled onto the floor in the midst of his knife-rant. Curious, Allen picked the small, leather-bound book up. In silver, calligraphic letters, it read, "Operation Noah." Now confused, he started to open the front cover when it vanished from his fingers. He turned to see his redheaded roommate looking down at him, almost in an accusing way, with the book in his hands.

"Don't ever touch this book."

"What is it?"

For a moment Allen saw a brief flash of anger and anguish, like a yearning to tell him, but knowing he couldn't. Almost as if he knew something deadly important. "It's none of your concern. It's my problem, and my problem alone, you got that?"

"Sure." He looked at the book again, then back to the floor. "Sure."

"Good. I'm gonna take a nap."

He watched his roommate tuck his book beneath his mattress before snuggling with himself under the covers, sighing in content. Allen was anything but content. He couldn't shake the strange feeling that something important was starting to happen.

That something was starting to move.

~X~

_We are the ones who saw the truth in this world, the truth that disposes the lie of Death. Touched by the wings of a fallen angel, one place on this planet, one place on this Earth, bestows the power to grant eternal life. This eternal life can be used for good, or for evil._

_And, as times have it, it will be used for evil. _

_We are the ones who tell this undeniable prophecy: When fourteen people from one clan sip the nectar to gain this eternal life, the world will come to an end, and begin again under the control of one Devil, one man who will alter destiny. _

_We are the ones warning you, in the sands of past time._

_Take heed._

(Prophecy of the Cube, dated back 322-225 B.C.)

The old man inhaled, taking in the tobacco his pipe held. He couldn't stand waiting much longer, especially for someone he rather disliked. The manilla folder contained little helpful information, only the prophecy the government was so concerned about. The United States found the Cube approximately one hundred years ago, uncovered by an archeological dig. They didn't take it seriously then, and the old man thought it was ridiculous for them to start worrying now, but the Head General, Malcolm C. Leverrier, did not want to take chances.

Especially, because of recent events, since the Cube probably spoke the truth.

The door swung open as the general, hands clasped behind his back, stepped out into the hall. A guard stood by, pistol in a sheathe attached to his belt. The General cleared his throat as he bowed his head only out of respect. "Bookman."

The old man nodded. "Leverrier."

"This way, please."

He rose from his seat, manilla folder in his hands as he entered the room. A large oak desk sat in the center of the room, a large chair and window behind it. Leverrier sat down in his chair while pushing aside the crumb-filled plate of a pineapple upside-down cake. The guard closed the door behind them.

"I believe you have something for me, then?" Bookman asked, settling in a chair across from his host. "Otherwise, I believe you have wasted my time for some folly predicament. I do not understand why you believe in a myth written thousands of years ago."

"You know what your apprentice said."

Bookman sighed. "You must realize, he _is _in college full of idiotic college students, most of whom are only there to party or get laid. His roommate must have been drunk during the incident, or perhaps even on drugs."

"That is not the only incident."

He raised his eyebrow. "Do explain."

Leverrier pushed another folder across the table. "A week ago, someone spotted a gang fight, in which the antagonist was stabbed several times, and even shot. The witness claimed to watch the person only laugh and tore out his attacker's heart, then vanished. They found the victim at the crime scene—Daisya Barry, age 23—and his heart right beside him. There were no open wounds on the body, and autopsy proved it was, indeed, his heart and not someone else's. They could not trace the culprit."

Silence. Bookman coughed a little. "You're not lying, judging by your tone. But that doesn't specifically mean—"

"Do you have any other explanation, old man?"

Silence again. He shook his head. "No, I do not. So, why did you request to speak to me?"

"I need your apprentice to get as much information from Allen Walker as much as you can. What did she look like? How old was she? Did he see her more than once? We need to find at least one of these clan members, or else the world will come to an end. So far, the Federal Intelligence Bureau has uncovered thirteen clan members by causes of death to innocent people." He relaxed back in his chair, frowning. "I believe what they want is the last member. The Fourteenth. And I believe, since Allen Walker did not wind up dead as a result of the accident, that he is their target."

"Preposterous!"

"Don't test my patience, Bookman. We are running out of time, whether you like it or not." His frown deepened into a glare. "Tell your apprentice his new mission. As for us, we will be doing our own research on Allen Walker. Howard Link!" The guard by the door straightened up and walked over to the desk, bowing his head. "I request you go undercover as a student in North Carolina. There, you will become 'friends' with this boy, and if anything is suspicious, report it to me at once."

The guard bowed. "As you wish, sir."

Leverrier turned back to Bookman. "If we do uncover the clan, then Operation Noah will go into effect, and we _will _use any means necessary to prevent the forthcoming catastrophe. Even if it does mean unleashing the latest military development."

"If you do, then you will have a lot of explaining to do to the public." Bookman rose from his seat, hand instinctively reaching to his head to check if his hair was still there. "Such creations do not go unnoticed, especially if a war unfolds because of this. The true question is," he paused at the door, glancing back at the General, "will you allow your self-image to vanish like this?"

"Old man..."

"That is all. Call me if you need anything further, _sir._"

The old man left, satisfied with his last jab at the General. He couldn't stand the man, always obsessively building himself up to look "cool." Sighing, he pulled out a cell phone and flipped through the contacts. He pressed "call," then waited for his apprentice to answer. After a few rings, a small click sounded. _"Heya, old Panda!"_

"Lavi," he said, ignoring his apprentice's childish antics, "I have an assignment for you."

~X~

**Ah, end of chapter! If you feel so inclined, leave a favorite, alert, or a review! If not, that's fine, too. Hopefully chapter three will come out sooner! I'll see you then! —Nobody Odd**


	3. In Which Insomnia Takes its Toll

**My apologies for the delay. Mind you, I have never done this before, and I never knew how much time was needed to be devoted into the creation of fanfics. I want to thank those who are putting up with me thus far, and to those who favorited, alerted, and reviewed. I hope to do my best from here on out.**

**Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man isn't mine. However, Hoshino's curse of lacking in updates seems to be upon me...**

~X~

3. In Which Insomnia Takes its Toll

Night fell upon the city, casting a blanket of stars and a full moon to sparkle onto the buildings and mountains. The observatory was empty; the company of books made him feel better as he entered the room. Most college students, at that hour, were either studying or partying. Since he was, as Lavi called him, a prude, he never attended said-parties, nor did he have the inclination to even want to go to said-parties. Perhaps he wasn't the most fun of college students, but his sole purpose of attending the place was to get a degree in something.

He yawned as he flipped through the Biology 101 textbook, the small font barely readable under the light of the moon. The lights in the observatory flickered from the lack of attention given to them, and the janitors didn't seem to want to fix them. His pencil clicked several times before scribbling down some notes. The words overflowed into other lines—a result of being unable to see clearly. Every once in a while, as he turned the pages of the book, he checked over his shoulder to make sure no one was creeping behind him, and looked over to the door to make sure no one, specifically a small girl, was coming in. The smallest creak or thud made him jump and drop the textbook.

But the girl, every time he traced the sound, was never there.

"I'm going crazy," he muttered as he turned the page. "I'm going crazy. That's the only explanation for all of this. It seems like no one else sees her."

The door creaked open. His textbook fell to the floor with a thud, spine snapping and pages flipping as he jumped up, startled. Light flooded into the room as a girl reached for the light switch, unaware of his presence. The lights flickered then went out, but he managed to see her face all the same. "Lenalee?"

"Oh! Allen," she said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be here."

Her eyes showed signs of crying; the redness and puffiness made him worry. She had books clasped to her chest as she walked towards him, footsteps quiet. She placed her books on the table before noticing his book on the floor. She picked it up, brushed off the dust, and handed it to Allen. "Here," she said. "I think the spine is broken, though. Have you been mistreating your books again? I know Biology isn't your best subject, but that is no reason to throw textbooks at Kanda."

He huffed. "He deserves it, though." He glanced over to her when she didn't respond with her usual, "that isn't nice." Her eyes solely stared at the books before her, ranging from English to Mathematics, as if she could read them with the covers still hiding the pages. He patted a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She was lying, but he didn't call her out on it. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Ah? Do I not look okay? Because I am."

She sighed as she forced him to look her in the eyes. "Are you _really_ okay, Allen?"

He swallowed hard as her cold fingers dug a little into his cheeks. She wanted the truth out of him, and, in the middle of the empty observatory, he couldn't get away from her. "I'm just stressed with finals coming up, that's all," he answered. "I'm not very good at tests, so I've been studying extra-hard at night, just to keep up."

She stared at him for a few moments before grabbing him by the wrist. Startled, he gasped as she led him out of the observatory, leaving their books behind in the starry-lit darkness. Rows upon rows of books seemed to wave at him as he found himself outside. The crickets chirped loudly, nearly overriding the sound of cars driving. She pointed at his dormitory. "You are going to bed," she said, tone firm. "I don't care if you want to study. I don't care if you think you might fail. Studying when you're tired won't get you anywhere. I hate it," she said, tears welling up in her eyes, which made her look at the ground, "when my friends push themselves to the brink of exhaustion. So, please, go to bed. Sleep."

"Lenalee..."

She looked up and glared at him through her tears. "If you say sorry, I won't forgive you. The only way you can make it up to me is by sleeping. I'll give you your books tomorrow."

He started to say something, but she already headed back into the library. The door closed with a click, and the books, along with Lenalee, disappeared in the building. He stared at the door for a few moments longer and sighed. Winning against her was impossible, especially when she had a point. He wandered through the streetlight-lit sidewalks, approaching his dorm as he yawned. He heard bass-heavy music roar in someone's dorm, shadows of dancing figures illuminated in the windows. He slid the key card, heard the click, and stepped inside. The night's chill faded into the dormitory's warmth, replacing the smell of tall grass and coming rain with old pizza and marijuana.

Lavi snored away when he entered his dorm. The light was still on, with Allen's notes sprawled all over the table. He eyed the floor wearily, remembering the blotch of ink-like blood that splattered out of her neck when the haunting girl stabbed herself. He shuddered as he crawled into bed. The covers welcomed him with snugness and warmth. He sighed, relaxing into the pillows, and allowing his eyelids to droop over his eyes in order to obtain the much-needed—and deserved—sleep.

Before his brain conked out, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, and a voice whispered in his ear,

_You cannot hide from me._

~X~

3:00 A.M.

She sat still at the edge of the pond, the moon flickering against its ripples. The tall grass swayed, as if bowing before her presence. Her lollipop tasted sweeter than normal, its multicolored swirls vibrant, and sticky with saliva. Her feet hovered over the edge of the pond, eyes narrowing when the water rippled more. The moon drew closer. She tilted her head a little before standing up. She kicked off her shoes before wading into the pond, liking the feel of catfish brushing by her feet and frogs fleeing from her path. She wasn't Tyki; she couldn't choose to not touch water. But, sometimes, touching things were better than not touching things.

She reached the center of the pond, where the moon stopped fleeing from her. Normal humans couldn't touch the moon on water. It always evaded their grasp. However, she wasn't a normal human. Her fingers brushed against the curve of the rock, feeling the contours of the craters. She closed her eyes as the word dripped out of her mouth: "Open."

The pond's water shuddered. The wind fell silent. Then the moon whined as it opened, a stairwell leading down revealed. She snickered as she descended, closing the hatch before wandering down. It curved endlessly towards the bottom, where a hatch awaited her, and where her destination truly was. She pulled the hatch open and plopped through it. The city of white greeted her as she wandered through the empty streets. No one else was there; just her and the birds that liked to fly about when no one was looking.

She opened one door that led to nowhere and allowed herself to fall through it. She twirled down, spiraling like the stairs that led her to the white city, until landing in a candle-lit room. He was in his rocking chair, as usual, knitting away at something. The pink umbrella she adored so much rested in the corner. The smell of morning tea reached her nostrils as she smiled. "Good morning, Millennium Earl."

"Good morning, Road." He put aside his knitting project. "It's been quite some time since the last time I saw you. I take it you have been well?"

She nodded. "And for you? I hear that the U.S. government is worried about the prophecy written upon the Cube."

"That they are, and rightfully so." His grin nearly faltered. "I feel the pulse of the Fourteenth coursing through my veins, growing stronger with each night that passes. I feel the victory upon us, ready to swoop down with the doves of Fate. I feel the rush of water, the same water that gave us this gift, ready to pass on the role of the Fourteenth onto the next person. And if he comes back to me..." He paused. "No, I'm sorry, _when_ he comes back to me, we will rid this world of all the unnecessary humans writhing on this planet."

"How are you so certain he'll come back?"

He took a sip of his tea. "I just know. He will come back to me."

Road didn't allow her doubt to show. Instead, she eyed the pink umbrella resting in the corner. "But he betrayed you last time," she said, picking it up. "And tried to kill you, remember? What makes you think that the will of the Fourteenth won't shine through again?" She looked to the Earl, who continued to rock in his chair. He had picked up his knitting project again; the needles kept making little clink noises as the yarn looped around. "You can't deny the truth, Earl."

He merely hummed. She sighed as she propped the umbrella over her shoulder, her eyes singling out candy resting in a dish. They looked like caramels. She loved caramels. She unwrapped one and popped it into her mouth.

"Have you been attending school, Road?"

"No. I've been taking a break—waiting for myself to get older-looking and everything."

The two laughed; her laugh sounded more bored than anything. "No, really, I just see no point in attending a school crawling with wimps. Nothing ever interesting happens these days, except for the fast-paced world of technology. Please, Earl, tell me my boredom won't have to last much longer. When the Fourteenth comes, can we _please_ put our plan in motion?"

He smiled. "But of course. Let's see what the United States decides to do. Let's see if Leverrier has the nerve to deal with me. Let's see what he makes of the currently-hiding torment that occurs in the streets." He turned to look at her. "Ah, that reminds me—Tyki will be meeting you where you've been staying for the past few days. He misses you terribly, you know. He keeps asking me how you are, even though I have no idea, considering how often you become an enigma."

"I'm sorry. I just like traveling around." She giggled. "That reminds me, I met the _cutest_ of boys recently. He's got white hair and the most frightful of blue-gray eyes. He hit me with a car a few nights ago. I'm afraid, though, that one of my ankles hasn't recovered from it quite yet." She twisted it a little, making it pop and crack. "No matter what I do, it just won't go back in normally—the bone, I mean. Aside from that, I recovered just fine."

"You should be careful with who you spill your power to, Road. And you need to go back to the river once in a while. Otherwise, you'll lose all of your abilities."

"He's too much of a pansy to do anything, Lord Millennium." She twirled the umbrella, rousing it from its slumber. It shouted loudly, but she ignored its cries for her to stop mistreating it. "He still looks like he's all of fifteen, but he's a college student—I say a freshman. And I'll go back soon. It's just, for now, I want to stay where I am. I want to see what becomes of him, knowing how I can live forever, and knowing that nothing can kill me."

"_Almost_ nothing."

"Right, right. Almost nothing." Her eyes stared out the window, watching the sun glitter through the glass. She opened it, letting the smells of budding trees and the ocean breeze in. "But that almost never happens to me, unlike Tyki. It never will, and you know it."

"Never say never."

She sighed as she approached a wall, arm outstretched as she patted the wood. A pinkish door topped with a crown appeared, opening one of its two doors. She stepped through and waved. "I'll see you later, Earl! I'll tell you if I decide to go to school. We still have enough money to send me, right?"

"Of course, of course! Now, go have fun. I'll make sure Tyki brings you candy."

The door closed behind her. She walked through the brightly-colored halls of her own dimension, shrinking and expanding at her will. The thought of the Fourteenth returning floated in and out of her mind, drifting in the deepest of recesses like a piece of wood caught in an ebb of water. If he came back to the Noah—and that was a very big _if—_he would, since he was the strongest, probably overthrow the current Earl to become the new Earl. She didn't want that to happen. A new dictator meant new rules, and the current dictator loved her as if he were her father. She smiled faintly at the thought. She loved her family, and she didn't want the Fourteenth to interfere.

However, in order to get the Earl to actually initialize his plan, the Fourteenth was the catalyst. They needed the Fourteenth, but only for a little while. However, the candidate needed to appear first, and the wait could take forever. She frowned as she walked past the floating teddy bears and the dripping candy candles. Perhaps she could make the Fourteenth. Maybe there was a way to get the river to accept someone who had a strong enough will to become the Fourteenth. Rushing it might not be the smartest of ideas, but she was _bored—_she was sick of waiting for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Was there such a candidate to replace the Fourteenth?

And, if so, how could she convince them to join the Noah?

It bugged her, despite living hundreds of years, that she didn't have all the answers. Her mind agonized as she approached her private room. She opened the door and stepped into the black and dark pink sanctuary. Pictures of the other Noah members lined the walls. An always-burning candle rested on the nightstand. Stuffed animals, some old and torn and some new and bright, greeted her as she plopped herself onto the bed. She didn't bother changing into her nightgown as she laid down, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that made up her ceiling. It took years to make the ceiling look exactly like the sky outside.

"How come," she whispered as her hand reached for the stars, "whenever I think of a candidate, I keep coming up with that pansy, Allen Walker?"

~X~

He dreamed of mirrors, mirrors stretching out farther than the human eye could see. He dreamed of running through their confusing maze, dreamed of crying for help, dreamed of breaking the glass. In the middle of the maze, surrounded by thousands of mirrors, was a pool of water. As he peered into it, his reflection didn't cry back at him. Instead, it was the girl, her yellow eyes lit with a look of malevolence. Her hands reached for him, then dragged him into the pool, carrying him downwards into the darkest of depths where no one could hear him scream.

Except, of course, Lavi, who shook the screaming college student.

"Allen, _Allen!_" His hands gripped the boy's shoulders tighter. "Allen, wake up! At this rate, you're going to wake the whole campus! Hey, snap out of it!"

Allen's eyes blinked open, tearing up with frustration. In the dark, he could make out Lavi's red hair, which stuck out from every end possible. The lone green orb of an eye conveyed some worry and some confusion. Allen slowly looked over to the alarm clock, sitting still on the nightstand and beaming numbers as it always did: _4:04 A.M._

"It's... so early," he whispered, the exhaustion and frustration cracking through his voice. "It's still night, and it's so early... I can't... I can't... I can't do this, Lavi, I can't do this!"

"Hey, don't shout at me! What are you even talking about?"

"I _can't sleep!_" He shouted the words too loudly. Lavi let him go and almost slapped his hands over his ears. Almost. But Allen managed to grab his arms as his eyes teared up. "I can't do it, Lavi! No matter what I do, she keeps appearing, keeps dragging me under this... this pool of water and drowns me in the darkness and I can't see anything and it's cold and I can't sleep! I can't do it, and it's driving me insane, Lavi, driving me insane!"

Lavi pried his hands away from the younger boy. "Calm down, breathe. Allen, look at me. Allen." The white-haired boy looked at him. "Who do you keep seeing in your dreams?"

"Th-the girl I hit with my car."

He took a deep breath. "You're probably having symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Seeing how you have finals coming up this week, and that you are, in fact, having issues sleeping, you are probably way too stressed to deal with everything." He looked to the clock. "The coffee shop should be open by now for the truckers. Let's get you something warm to drink, okay?"

Allen didn't recall saying yes, nor did he remember getting dressed and looking well enough to be seen in public, but he found himself in the snug coffee shop nonetheless. Fresh doughnuts laid still in their trays as coffee pots brewed different blends. He sniffled as he sat by the window, truckers chit-chatting away while Lavi ordered something from the cook. She flashed a smile at him before pouring drinks into two mugs and handing him some bagels. A plate clattered in front of Allen's eyes, revealing an onion bagel with cream cheese and coffee. Lavi sat down on the other side of the booth.

"Lenalee was crying," Allen mentioned, poking at his bagel. "She sent me home from the library before I could ask her why. Do you know why?"

"She never tells me anything." Lavi's eye twitched as the words fell out of his mouth. "She trusts you more than me, y'know. If anyone would know what was wrong, it would be either you or Komui. But I could tell she wasn't all that sad yesterday until the afternoon. She looked distraught."

"I wonder if it was something I said?"

"I doubt it. She rarely gets mad at you, Allen. Except when you push yourself too much." He bit a chunk out of his raisin bagel. "You shouldn't worry about her too much, anyhow. You should be more worried about your current situation."

Allen looked at his reflection on the unneeded spoon. His distorted face revealed the bags under his eyes and the puffiness in his cheeks. He groaned as his head thudded on the table. "I saw her," he said, "during the orientation yesterday. She looked so amused with herself, as if everything she was doing to torment me was nothing more than a game. And then she followed me back to our dorm..." His sentence trailed off. He wasn't sure if he could tell Lavi all about the horrendous knife-stabbing. "I just don't know what to do."

"Well, how about this: if she appears again, call me. I'll put you under a different ring tone to know it's you. I'll answer as quick as I can, and I'll come to tell this girl off."

He laughed. "Thanks, Lavi."

The redhead grinned. "Don't mention it." He pulled out a notebook, the same notebook as before, and started writing intensely in it. The pen scratching against the pages made Allen curious, but Lavi's reaction last time told him to stay away from the notebook. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't want to sneak a peek while the redhead was away. Allen gasped and turned around.

"Huh? What're you looking at?"

"Nothing." Allen relaxed into his seat. "I just thought someone was watching us."

"Wow. You really _are_ growing paranoid."

The man sitting farthest away from them, enjoying a pastry with some orange juice, stared at the subject in question. His earring buzzed a little as a faint transmission reached his ear. "_Inspector,_" a voice said, "_what of the subject, Allen Walker? Is there any possible connection between him and any of the Noah?_"

"I believe he ran in contact with one, yes. The Bookman Junior is still talking to him. By reading their lips, I have determined that mister Walker is having problems with some girl. I don't exactly know who she is, but I suspect Noah activity. I also looked into the incident with Walker's car." He flipped through some notes. "It appears he hit something the same size as a small human. And I found blood on the car I looked at this morning. I shall send what I found to you."

"_Thank you, Inspector. If you confirm that Allen Walker has had contact with any Noah, carry out the emergency order and assassinate him by any means possible. Do you understand?_"

"Yes, Leverrier."

"_Good. Do not fail me, Inspector Howard Link._"

The connection died; his target got up and left with Bookman Junior. The Inspector gathered up his notes and finished off his pastry. The day just began and he could already tell it was going to be a very, _very_ long one.

~X~

**So this chapter seemed a little off to me, but I can assure you, for I am working on it now, that chapter 4 shall start the ball rolling. If you feel so obliged, leave a review, make it a favorite, or have an alert put up for this story. Thank you, those who are putting up with me. Hopefully, with any luck, this rare male fanfic writer will update within a week. (Yes, you heard correctly.) Until then! —Nobody Odd**


	4. In Which the First Rock Creates the Fall

**Oh. Another chapter? So soon? Is the world ending? Nope, wait, not October 21st yet. Ah well. So, thank you, those who thought I was worthy enough to receive your praise / criticism / favoritism / hate. I appreciate all of it, and I embrace it all. Thus, I bring to you all a new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man... FUNimation needs to dub the other two seasons. Please?**

4. In Which the First Rock Creates the Landslide

"This. This has to be the definition of Hell."

"I can't believe professor Lee made us study that whole packet! I doubt I'm even going to pass his class, that crazy bastard!"

Allen made his way through the buzz of college students. Most had their heads buried in books and surrounded by empty bottles of Mountain Dew. Others chatted with their friends as notes sprawled over the table. His own table, accompanied by no one, held his large books (excluding his Biology book, which was still held hostage by the notorious Lenalee Lee) and note-filled binders. He yawned as he sat down, placing two boxes of pizza beside him. He leafed through his notebook as a tray clattered in front of him.

"I thought I told you to sleep, but Lavi said you screamed bloody murder late last night."

He looked up from his textbook. Lenalee looked down at him with a look that could kill a rattlesnake by a heart attack. Regardless of how angry she looked, she sat across from him anyhow. He laughed sheepishly as she stabbed her food with her fork. He could only imagine her seeing the potato as his head, the fork bludgeoning him to death. She kept staring at him, eyebrows furrowed and mouth in a half-pout, half-frown position.

"I've been having nightmares," he said. "Just of me failing finals and getting evicted from the school. I am pretty sure it's just typical stress causing it." He smiled reassuringly as her glare deepened. "I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me!"

_Why?_ asked a little voice in the back of his mind. _Because she won't believe what is the truth?_

_No one could believe that,_ he argued.

_Yet you told Lavi. _

"I suppose," she said, breaking up his thoughts, "that you are telling me the truth." She rummaged through her bag and plopped his Biology book onto the table. "I swear, Allen, if you wear yourself out again, I will steal this book so you will fail your final. And you think I'm kidding, do you? 'Cause I'm not, you know. I really will steal it."

His mouth opened, then closed.

_I don't want Lenalee involved._

"Lenalee," he said, "why were you crying last night? It wasn't because of me, right?"

She stared at him, long and hard, before she let her fork rest, still embedded into the remaining mashed potatoes. "I suppose I can tell you," she said, voice quiet. "I went to the doctor's yesterday, and they were doing a check-up. They said they found something abnormal in my chest, so they looked more into it, and..." She trailed off, eyes wandering around the busy lunchroom. "And they determined I have early stages of breast cancer."

The words stunned him as if he got harpooned by an Irukandji jellyfish. The words were maybe about an inch or two long on paper, yet they wielded the power of 40,000 times the force of gravity. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face as his slice of pizza slid out of his hand and landed back into the box. He struggled for words. He wanted to find words that would cheer her up, or even make the knowing that she could possibly die go away, but instead, with a dry mouth, the words "You... what...?" escaped with little feeling.

"Oh, that's terrible. I feel like I just came by at the wrong time."

The voice startled him. His head slowly turned to see the very girl giving him trouble. She had a dancing smile, but her eyes portrayed empathy for Lenalee. "I didn't mean to listen in," she added, "but I saw Allen, and I wanted to sit by him. My name is Road Camelot."

_No. No, no, no, no, no, no! _His eyes couldn't possibly stretch the skin any further as they widened. Her needling giggle seemed to only reach his ears as she smiled. _No! No! No! Please, no!_

"Oh!" Lenalee smiled a little as Allen's lungs felt like they fractured and began inhaling ice instead of the much-needed oxygen. "My name is Lenalee Lee. I'm sorry you had to hear that—I was just trying to get things off of my chest is all."

"No, I understand completely." Road placed her pink lunchbox beside the pizza boxes as she sat next to the frightened Allen. "It's good to have someone you trust enough to talk to whenever you learn something as terrible as that. Are you two good friends?"

"We are," Lenalee answered, nodding. "We only met this year, but I consider Allen to be one of my good friends."

"Really," Road replied, eyes sliding a glance over to the shrinking boy. He picked up a piece of pizza and forced it into his mouth, despite his stomach wanting to reject any form of food substance. He needed an excuse to not talk. If he talked, the fear would leak out, and Lenalee would immediately know something was wrong. The smaller girl tittered a little as she unzipped her lunchbox. A vast array of colorful candy greeted them. "Would you like one?" she offered, holding up a black-wrapped piece of hard candy. "They're really good."

"Oh, thank you." Lenalee took the piece of candy and unwrapped it. Allen noticed the hint of malevolence riddled in Road's eyes as Lenalee chewed it. "How do you know Allen?"

"We met not too long ago under strange circumstances," she answered, elbowing him. "He hit me with his car, even. You know his car's grill is really rusty, yeah?"

The two laughed as if Road just told a joke. Allen wanted to become an ant, crawl into the pizza box, and wait until someone tossed it out to the garbage. Not the most pleasing of all deaths, but it sure beat the current situation he was in. "Actually," she said after their hardy laugh, "we're study partners. He's teaching me well in English while I explain to him difficult concepts in Biology. It's like a trade-off of sorts. Right, Allen?" She nudged him with her elbow, only rougher this time. "Tell her how much you suck at figuring out ATP production of certain processes."

He tried his best to laugh; it actually sounded rather good. "I do suck," he falsely admitted. "But, then again, you can't even read words with five syllables in them without great difficulty." He swallowed down the bile of fear. "Why are you here, Road? I thought you were supposed to be out shopping or stabbing yourself to death out of boredom."

It was scary how, as they chatted, it truly sounded like a group of friends joking around. However, the underlying context between him and Road were far from jokes. Lenalee was the one left out, smiling and laughing despite the practical death sentence she received the other day. His smile nearly faltered as the childish voice answered, "I just really wanted to see you, you know? But," she turned her attention to Lenalee, "I want to ask—will they have any form of treatment to get the cancer out of you? I just met you, and I think you're too nice to..." she trailed off.

"They said since they caught it early, they'll more than likely be able to treat it and defeat it." She sighed as she finished her mashed potatoes and started eating her slice of chocolate cake. "It's just the slight percentage that they won't be able to do anything that is scaring me. I guess I shouldn't think about it too much right now. I have to finish finals first." She blinked as a small, vibrating noise caught her attention. She picked up her cellphone. "Oh, that's Komui, probably wanting coffee. I'll see you two later! It was nice to meet you, Road."

"See you, Lenalee! It was nice to meet you, too!" Road waved as the Chinese girl left the desperate Allen behind with her. Her hand dropped back down to her side as her attention focused on him. "So that's the girl you like, hm? She's got such a cute name! I'm so jealous. And she's super pretty, too! You picked a really good one, Allen."

"What do you want?" he asked bitterly. "Haven't you tormented me enough?"

"Oh, am I bothering you that much?" She laughed. "I'm being honest, though, when I say I just wanted to see you. You are just too adorable to not see everyday! And, besides, I wanted to take a look-see around this school. Just to get familiar with it, you know?"

"No," he said, "I don't know."

He rose from his seat as he finished the last bit of his pizza crust and tossed the boxes into the trash. He strode across the cafeteria after collecting his books, Road following behind him with her twirling umbrella. The sky was spotless and hosted no clouds, so he wondered why she brought it along with her. He stepped down the stairs and crossed the hub of the college. He stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders. "_Why_ are you still following me?"

She looked surprised for a moment, but the surprise gave way into a smirk. "I'll always follow you," she replied, grasping a hand that held her still. "Because you absolutely cannot hide from me. I'll follow you 'til the end of the Earth, Allen, because I'm bored and you are absolutely adorable when you writhe from your nightmares."

"Wait..." His eyes widened as she took him by the hand. "What?"

She only giggled as she let him go, then danced through the park, skirt twirling with her. Fellow college students eyed her while she danced and laughed. She stopped twirling for a moment, facing Allen, and winked before skipping the rest of the way. He stared after her, one hand still in front of him, as if expecting her to come back and take his hand again. He forced it down back by his side. Somehow she got into his dorm undetected at night, possibly through that door she had. The thought made him shudder. He really didn't want her creeping the way she did.

But, apparently, he had no choice on the matter.

His thoughts wandered back to Lenalee—sad, disease-struck Lenalee who had what seemed to be a normal conversation with the demonic-girl, Road. After all the time that passed, he still couldn't believe she, of all people, would be diagnosed with breast cancer. She couldn't die. Not her, not the college student wanting to become a doctor, not the girl who had a brother from Hell, not her and her heartfelt smiles whenever she saw him. Of all the people in the world, Lenalee was the last he wanted to have such a terrible thing happen.

The knowing depressed him, so he tried to focus on more happy things. But, as it seemed the past few days, there really were no happy things to think about. Only finals, the nightmares, the sociopathic immortal girl who had a thing for him, and his sleep deprivation took up his mind. He wished with every molecule in his body that he never decided to go out to his house that rainy night.

It was too late now. She wasn't, as she informed him, going to leave him alone.

The sky rumbled with dark clouds. It started to rain.

~X~

"I did it."

She snickered as she crossed the streets and disappeared through the hole—or door—in the ground, which returned her back to her personal realm. She guffawed as she skipped down the halls, doll shoes tapping on the floor and making small echoes reverberate around the realm. Her umbrella yanked itself out of her hands and glared at her. "Mistress Road, lero," it said, "you have got to stop playing with me, lero! I don't approve of it one bit, lero!"

"Oh, be quiet, Lero," she replied, entering her playroom. Dolls and toys of various shapes and sizes greeted her with creepy smiles. She picked up a white teddy bear and snuggled it. "Oh, I can't believe I did it! I can't believe how easy it is going to be! Finally, after all this time waiting, I can say that we really will rid this world full of wimps!"

The umbrella looked confused. "What are you talking about, lero?"

She giggled as she plopped herself on a beach-ball colored beanbag chair. Fuzzy pillows almost slipped off as she bounced on it. "What I mean is that I have found a candidate to fill in as the role as the Fourteenth, and there is no way that this plan can fail! I just love how a plan just comes together! I do have to thank that Lenalee girl, however. Without her, this plan would have never formed. And now she's the catalyst." Her grin widened. "Since he loves her, there is no way he can refuse. Especially when he finds out..."

Her sentence hung in the air as the plastic phone, which rested on a small table, started ringing. Her finger flicked, making the phone come to her and land gently in her palm. "Hello?"

"Road, you make it difficult to give you presents when you are in hiding all the time."

"It's not _hiding,_ silly, it's merely resting!" She giggled. "Where are you?"

"On the corner of Main and Central. Bring a coat—it's downpouring out here."

She tossed the phone against the wall, making it disappear into a plume of black dust and severed hands. Her shoes turned to cute pink boots and her shirt turned into a complementary pink jacket as she twirled Lero. "Looks like I'm not done with you yet!" she beamed as she left her room. The hallway shortened as walked, pressing a hand against the wall. The door split open, making her jump lightly into the street. People walked by as if they saw nothing. Because, it was true—they saw nothing.

A person stood on his heels and leaned against the pole. Rain made people evacuate the sidewalks and into the busy shops, but not him—no, he preferred to stay out in the rain. He raised his eyes as the stomping of her boots caught his attention. He smiled. "Long time no see, Road."

"Tyki!" She leaped over a puddle to give him a bone-crushing hug. "It has been a long time. Where have you been?"

"The river, more or less." He rummaged through his pocket, then pulled out a small vial. "Here, from yours truly. I know you hate taking time out of your schedule to go down there."

"It's because it always whispers," she muttered, taking the vial out of his hands. "Always, always. 'Bring me the Fourteenth.' I have tried, time and time again, but all of those experiments failed. It's as if the river wants nothing but wimpy human blood these days." She popped open the vial and chugged it, not wanting to taste the bitterness it held. "Speaking of which, how well is it surviving? I know its been through a bad dry spell down there."

"Bad dry spell is right. If you want the Fourteenth, you best act quickly." His hand outstretched, letting the rain soak through his gloves. "There is no sign of the spell ending, and its getting dryer by the day. I'd say, right now, it's a puddle."

"A _puddle?_" She couldn't hide her disbelief. "The river is a puddle? I find that hard to believe."

"I wish I were kidding. I believe part of the problem is because of the lack of the Fourteenth. He or she is the one who controls the river in the first place. When the Earl killed him, he knew that, so he created the Arc, just in case. But it doesn't replace the power of the river." He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, then inhaled deeply. "Damn, I'm hungry. Does any of these places serve anything meaty? I've been having a craving with it for awhile."

"You need to stop smoking, Tyki. It makes your clothes smell terrible." She gagged as he exhaled. "I would say something about your health, but..."

"Why worry about health when I can live forever?" He grinned. "You want to get some food? My treat."

"Not right now," she said, eyes flickering over towards the taller buildings that made up the college. Tyki followed her gaze to the buildings, but didn't comment as she sighed. "You know, Tyki?" she said, hint of nostalgia reaching her tone. "I think humans may have something we don't sometimes. Something special, something I can't have. I just can't figure out what."

"It's called the beauty of mortality," he said, stubbing out his cigarette.

"No, that's not it."

"Hm?"

She sighed. "Food it is. Do you even have money, Tyki, or are you still a vagabond with sticky fingers?"

"Have you no faith in me?" He pulled out a wallet. "Yes, I have money. I wouldn't off to treat you otherwise. What are you in the mood for? Chocolate? Steak?"

"Salad."

He stared at her, mouth closed, eyes wide. "Are you sick?"

"No, just in the mood for salad." She skipped along. "We're being watched, and my profile says that I love candy. If I deceive our lip-reading spy, we'll be able to buy more time before they realize it is us. But by then, we'll already be gone." She giggled. "Come along, Tyki. We must not be late for our father-daughter date!"

"Don't you dare mistake me for Sheryl." He groaned at the name. "I wondered why you were standing in front of me this whole time. Where is said-spy, anyways?"

"Oh, he's hiding in the alleyway, blonde hair and all." She flapped her hand. "But, really, there is a great cafe down here that serves really, really good salad." She spun around. "He's actually been spying my new little friend, Allen Walker. I've been playing with him as my new toy, and a possibility for something greater. They pick up quick, the Leverrier clan, because they have Bookman's apprentice naively filling the government in with loads of information. If only he knew," she giggled, "what he was getting into."

"Who, Bookman's apprentice or this Allen Walker?"

She smiled deviously. "Both."

~X~

_It hurts._

He stood still amongst a crowd of watchers. The ambulance rushed to the building as soon as possible, with chatter washing over their ears. A broken coffee cup. It dripped the brown liquid down the stairs, creating a stream over the concrete and marble. The glass spread over everywhere. Some blood was on it, too—wet and red and bright. He looked away from that.

_It hurts so much._

The ambulance. Oh, how the lights and searing echo of its siren gave him a headache during exam week. He almost jumped every time it drove by. He never expected for him to see one up close, live and personal, paramedics and all. His Biology professor stood by the door, head buried in his hands. In any other situation, he would walk over to his professor and pat him on the shoulder. Yet his legs refused to move. On complete accident, walking through, he stumbled upon this large situation.

"Allen!" a voice shouted. "Allen!"

_It hurts to breathe. Did she do this?_

_Or did I do this, her being guilty be association?_

"Allen," a hand slapped onto his shoulder. "Allen. Where is she?"

The ambulance rushed away, older brother and all. The crowd started to disappear.

"Allen? Hey, are you in there? Answer me. Where did she go? Where are they taking her? Allen?"

_Just now. Lenalee. She was..._

"Hospital." His voice sputtered out the words. Rain ran down the lengths of his white hair. "She's going to... the hospital. It... doesn't sound good."

_As pale as Death itself._

~X~

**All right, chapter 4, finished. Thank you, reader! I wouldn't have finished this chapter without all of you reading this. I intend to finish chapter 5 by the end of next week. By then we should have a new chapter. Right? ...Right? ...is the troll coming to eat us again? Ah well. See you then. —Nobody Odd**


	5. In Which an Offer is Made

**So, I've been getting a few requests to do certain things to this story. I cannot say I can quite fulfill said-wishes, because, as they say, I have no clue what will happen next (though I already know the ending). Please be patient. Also, starting next chapter, I will hopefully have this Beta-reader thing worked out! It's exciting! So, without further ado...**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. Never. I own the books, though! (finally.)**

5. In Which an Offer is Made

"I am sorry to call you out in the middle of lunch. I hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience."

After spying on two suspicious figures, he retreated into his hotel room, where he made a phone call—three phone calls, in actuality. One was to his head, Leverrier. The other two was to a house phone, then a cellphone, before he finally got his man. As he dined on the finest of pastries he ever tasted (second to his superior's, of course), he waited for his visitor to come along. And after twenty to twenty-five minutes of waiting, his guest appeared, looking unimpressed. A book bag was strapped over his shoulder, bearing the weight of what looked to be fifty pounds. His long hair and clothes were soaked from traversing in the rain.

"Inconvenience." He repeated the word with disgust. "Since when did you give a damn about what's good for me, you mole-head? Always giving me orders, always telling me to do since you bastards created me. Che." He plopped the bag onto the floor and kicked it aside. It skidded to a stop against a tacky-colored wall. "So what the hell do you want from me this time—or, should I say, what does _he_ want me for?"

He didn't take an insult from his guest. If he did, he would have killed the man a long time ago. "I realize you are in the middle of dire times, what with finals and all. However, this is a matter the government cannot simply overlook. As you know, the Cube told a prophecy of there being fourteen people who will bring about the destruction of the Earth."

"Spare me the fucking lecture and get to your point. Who do you want me to kill?"

The man lacked tact. Sometimes, the Inspector was grateful for that. "We have a subject we want disposed of. There seems to be some connection between him and our main enemy, the clan of Noah. In fact, he goes to the same school you do." He nibbled on his pineapple upside-down cake as the man raised an eyebrow. "I don't care how you kill him, nor do I care how you dispose of the body. We own the police here anyhow. We'll cover your tracks and pay you immensely for his death."

"Will I finally be put out of commission from that fat bastard, too?"

That irked him. "Please be polite when addressing Leverrier." He put down the cake onto the table, feeling stuffed. "I will discuss it with him, though I do not guarantee any promises."

"And what of Alma? Will she be released, too?"

"She?" Link shook his head. "Dear, dear Kanda, you must still be wrapped up in that illusion. Alma is none other than a male—a fighter like you, payed immensely to do his job. He has been commissioned longer than you have, and by the looks of it, enjoys his job. So, no, _he_ won't be released by Leverrier."

"Then no deal." Kanda picked up his bag.

"What if I told you," Link said, unworried about his guest's threat to departing, "that the person you were taking out is none other than your worst enemy, Allen Walker himself?"

Kanda stopped, doorknob in hand. His fingers squeezed harder on the cool metal before slowly turning around, long, black hair turning with him. His darker eyes narrowed as he closed the door. "You want the _Moyashi_ dead?" he asked, head tilting at the question. "Che. You don't need an assassin to kill that bean sprout. He'll be dead by the time finals week ends, either by stress or his debts his caretaker owes."

"It's not quick enough. We need him gone by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Kanda repeated. "Tomorrow is my hardest final. You really want me to blow that off just to kill a puny-ass kid? Are you fucking stupid, Link, or are you mentally retarded? Let me guess—you were dropped as a small child, and now you can't cope with it, so you pretend to act like a pompous bastard to make yourself feel better. Shit, I bet you're still in training pants, you're so fucking stupid. I will kill him by this Friday, but don't place any bets on tomorrow."

"Will you _please_ lessen on the insults?" Link's grip on his fork grew stronger, knuckles nearly turning white. "It's bad for my ears. If you can't kill him by tomorrow, fine—just make sure he doesn't hang out with this girl." He slid a photo across the table, depicting said-girl clinging onto a scared-looking Allen. "If you have to, break them up—make them have as little contact as possible. In the meantime, try not to be such a prat all the time. If you keep that attitude, who knows what Leverrier might do? I would not like to think what he might do to Alma if I told him you were so chicken to not kill Walker by tomorrow."

Kanda scowled as the Inspector shrugged. "Don't you lay a finger on her," he said.

"Again with the her. Perhaps _you_ were the one dropped on your head?"

The sword came flying out of its hilt, faster than Link's eyes could register. It hovered a centimeter from his forehead, blade illuminating off the dull lighting of the hotel. He sat still, chewing thoughtfully on his cake. "It was only a mere suggestion," he said with a sigh. "No need to throw such a temper-tantrum."

"I don't know whose attitude I loathe more," Kanda said, glaring at the Inspector as he made his way towards the door. "Yours, or _Moyashi's._" With that, he sheathed his sword, then stomped out the door, slamming the unfortunate thing behind him. Link remained still in his seat, trying to make the best out of his day. He wasn't entirely sure if the girl was, in fact, a Noah. All he could make out was her and whoever she was talking to wanting to go eat salad, of all things.

He couldn't risk it. If Allen Walker did stumble upon the Noah, then he could become a candidate for the Fourteenth. Letting him go was no longer an option, especially with such a dire time looming above them. Only if they located the source of the Noah's powers, then they could stop the war hidden from most human eyes.

The chances of that happening in time, though, like the rain stopping before nightfall, were slim to nil.

~X~

Hospitals always smelled the same. Disinfectant, sickness, death, and horrible hospital food. Put the four together and that made a mess of the sense of smell. He didn't remember how he got there, but it involved Lavi's car. Lavi's car and Lavi's reassurance. However, he wasn't sure how much of that reassurance could be put to good use. He tapped his foot impatiently as his redhead friend chatted with the nurse. She looked beautiful, but it seemed Lavi was too worried to notice, which was a first. Another first was the look in his eye, but he didn't know what it shined with.

"They said she's in the ER," he said after talking to the nurse. "Komui is there, too, waiting in the waiting room. There's no word on her condition yet. Come on," he patted a hand on Allen's shoulder, "let's go see if there's anything we can do to make Komui feel better while we wait."

Make Komui feel better. He couldn't even make himself feel better, let alone Komui. Allen nodded regardless, numb as Lavi pushed him along down the white halls of the hospital. People with walkers slowly rolled on by as nurses and doctors spoke in their own lingo. The lights overhead whirred by, like the open rooms beeping with machines and stuffed bears being handed out to sickly children. Sympathy smothered the whole place with its own pillow, only this pillow seemed nice enough, with smiles and sunshine hiding the darkness and anguish on the other side.

His pillow didn't come with smiles and sunshine. Only the anguish.

The waiting room had several people in it. Professor Lee, though a simple "Komui" worked for the situation, chewed away at his fingernails as his foot tapped with growing impatience. He looked like a mess, with a coffee stain spilled down the front of his white shirt, and his hat sloppily thrown onto his head, but he didn't seem to care. In fact, the only worry he had was of his dear sister, who was currently being checked in one of the rooms. He looked up to see Lavi and Allen approaching him with the same worry in their eyes.

"Oh," he said. He didn't seem surprised that the two were there. "They still don't know anything yet."

Allen sat beside Komui as Lavi stood by the window. "What happened, anyways?" Allen asked quietly.

Komui looked to his hands, which were covered in ink stains. "She was serving us coffee," he said, tears brimming. "She was smiling, despite the condition given to her. One cup to Reever, to Tapp, then, as she came to me, she dropped the mug. And it broke. All over the carpet, like a big crash of glass. Smash goes the cup. And she just stares." He looked off into the distance for a moment. "Stares like there was something behind me. I followed her eyes—nothing out of the ordinary. By the time I look back, she's on the floor, paler than... paler than a _corpse_." He said the last word with great difficulty, and it sounded dismembered when it did come out. "I call the ambulance, and... now I am here, awaiting for my sister's condition. She didn't wake up at all on the way here. Not at all."

The stress leaked out of his voice, as did the worry. His finger kept tapping on the seat, keeping in pace with his foot. Allen looked desperately to Lavi, but the redhead seemed preoccupied in his own thoughts to help Komui calm down. "A corpse, huh?" he repeated dully. "But she didn't die, right?"

"No, God, no." Komui shook his head. "I checked immediately. She had a pulse. But she wouldn't wake up, not at all. No matter how hard I shook her, she stayed the same way. Lifeless, but not dead. Like..."

"A coma," the redhead finished, arms folding across his chest. His gaze continued out the window. Allen began to worry—Lavi never seemed so distressed.

"Right, a coma." Komui nodded.

The silence came back. With silence came nervousness, and with nervousness came anxiety. It was a party now, hosted by depression. He looked from Komui to Lavi, then focused his attention onto a picture of a grassy field hanging on the white wall. A woman sat on a rock with a notebook in her lap and a paintbrush in hand. A lake expanded a little ways past the field. He looked away from the picture. He became wary of any bodies of water since the nightmares started. He thought she would appear in them, and that she would drag him under.

He pushed the thoughts aside as a female doctor stepped out. "Is Komui Lee still here?"

Komui rose to his feet. Lavi tore his gaze away from the window, but he still hung by it. Allen stood beside his professor as the doctor flipped through some charts on her clipboard. "How is she?" he asked, impatience reaching his tone. "She'll be okay, right? I know she was diagnosed with cancer, but it was first stage, and they were going to treat it tomorrow and—"

"Komui," Allen hushed.

He stared at the white-haired boy before nodding, closing his mouth. The doctor frowned. "First-stage, right?" she said. "It doesn't make any sense, then. No cancer progresses _that_ quickly. She came in yesterday and got diagnosed then, correct?"

"Yes."

The doctor shook her head. "Truly a mystery," she said. Then her sympathetic eyes came into play. Lavi stood up straighter at the sight. Komui's breathing hitched. Allen's body grew numb. "I'm terribly sorry to say that Miss Lee has progressed to the last stage of breast cancer in the course of a day. I do not know how it happened, but we're taking her to another ward and putting her—" the doctor's tone became solemn "—on death watch. I say she has about three weeks left to live."

Allen's face lost all color, making it look as white as his hair. The pillow that smothered the hospital came down, made a small incision, then took a chainsaw and ripped through his heart. He barely turned his head in time to see Komui fainting. His body thudded against the floor, his glasses and hat falling off and clattering to the floor beside him. The doctor called over some nurses to help him to a chair, where he still didn't regain consciousness. Allen choked, his eyes brimming with tears. It couldn't be happening. It was the only explanation he had. Everything that happened that day, it had to be a dream.

The sound of glass shattering disrupted his quickly-vanishing thought process. The nurses looked up as the doctor nearly dropped her clipboard. The sound also brought Komui back out of unconsciousness. Allen turned around slowly to see Lavi's hand outside the window, hand cut and dripping blood. His eye stared at the doctor as his lower lip trembled. "Death watch?" he said. "Death watch? You're putting _Lenalee_ on death watch? She's only nineteen, you heartless bastards! You can take your goddamn sympathy and shove it up your ass, for all I care! You don't give a damn who lives and who dies, do you? You only care about getting paid! If you cared, you just wouldn't immediately put that label on her and try to see if there was anything you could do first!"

"Lavi!" Allen held him back as he started to grab a chair. "Lavi, calm down!"

"Calm down? Look at them! They don't give a shit about her, Allen! They don't care! How could they possibly not care about someone like her? How could they...?" His sentence broke off as he looked away. Allen stared at the redhead as his shoulders stiffened. What surprised him was seeing Lavi so angry and so upset at once. "How could they be so _cold?_" he finished in a whisper.

"Allen, Lavi."

They both looked to Komui, who held up the doctor from calling security. "Go home," he said. "Go home and rest. I'm going to stay here. You two have finals tomorrow, don't you? Don't worry about you breaking the window, Lavi. I'll pay for it. I'll call you two if anything changes. But, please, go home. I'm going to see Lenalee." He rose from his chair. "But thank you for coming. It would mean a lot to Lenalee, knowing her two friends showed up for support."

The words nearly broke the both of them. Allen managed to nod as Lavi looked to the floor, unable to come up with something to say. They both pushed each other out of the waiting room, out of the hospital, and into the parking lot, where the rain continued to patter against the buildings and cars. Lavi sat in the driver's seat, car key in hand, but with no motivation to put the key in. Allen sat in the passenger's seat, staring at the dashboard as his muscles stiffened. Lenalee, who sat by him during lunch, was dying. The worst part was, there was nothing to cure her of the cancer, not anymore. His mind reeled with too many thoughts, too many theories. It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe. If he could talk, he would say something incomprehensible.

"Damn," Lavi said for him. He punched the steering wheel before covering his eye with his arm. "Damn!" he said again, only much louder as he put the key in the ignition. The car started up, and he put it into reverse. He came to the end of the parking lot only to shake his head. "I can't," he said, lips trembling. "I'm sorry, Allen, I just can't."

"Want me to drive?" His voice sounded too hoarse for his liking. One more thought about Lenalee's death sentence was going to push him over the edge and into a lake of tears.

"Neither of us can. I'll call Yuu and ask if he can pick us up. I think he can put up with you for fifteen minutes." He parked the car again and pulled out his cellphone. "Oh, fuck," he whispered as he dialed the number. "Hey, Kanda?" A pause. "Yeah. Can you pick me and Allen up?" Another pause after what sounded like yelling. "Listen, Lenalee is in the hospital. It's..." He trailed off. Kanda seemed to get the message. "We're at St. John's. We'll wait for you outside. Thanks."

He hung up the cellphone. Allen stared out the window, mind numbing as each second passed. The rain made his mood worse as he buried his face in his hands. Lavi patted him on the shoulder, and he began to cry without an ounce of shame.

~X~

Night came quickly. Allen sat still on his bunk, staring at the opposite wall. A thunderstorm rocked the downtown region, lighting up the area suffering a power-outage. The flashes of light vanished as quickly as they came as the storm raged on. Kanda, surprisingly, didn't yell at him when he came to pick them up. If anything, he was silent the whole time, only asking Lavi about Lenalee's condition. The redhead barely managed to get the words out: _"Lenalee's dying."_

Allen punched himself on the thigh as the thought sneaked into his head. He didn't want to think about it, not with finals and everything else pushing down on him. But it was Lenalee, the girl he cared more than he liked to admit. Her smile, her eyes, the way she carried her happiness with her... she made his freshman year better than it would have been. His teeth clenched together as he tried to stop himself from crying. His bedsheets had snot and tears all over them already. Lavi didn't seem like he was crying. Instead, he was calling back his grandfather and talking in a foreign language. When he came back, though, his eye seemed stunned as he crawled into bed.

Lavi hadn't moved since.

Lightning illuminated a pair of golden eyes. It didn't scare him as much as he thought it would. He sat up straighter as a pair of arms wrapped around him. She sat in his lap, giggling a little. When he didn't respond, she tilted her head. "Why the long face, cute widdle Allen?" She poked him with one of her long nails, painted black as if she were going to a funeral. "You seem distraught. You being distraught is no fun."

"What did you do to her?"

She stared at him, lightning lighting up her confused face. "Hm?"

"I said, what did you do to her?" He grabbed Road by the shoulders. "You obviously did something!" he hissed, applying more pressure through his fingertips. "You're the reason why she's in the hospital, why the doctors put her on death watch, why she is now sicker than ever! You did something to her, you had to have! Why her? She didn't do anything! She didn't so anything at all, she only talked to you and ate some of your candy! _I'm_ the one you want, remember? Me! Not her! Me! Whatever you did to her, undo and do it to me! Because she has nothing to do with this!"

The girl snickered as she pulled out a lollipop. "Oh, poor, naïve little Allen," she said, shaking her head. Her teeth crunched the swirled candy as she tapped his chin. Her fingernail dug into the skin, making a nick and making it bleed. "I didn't do anything to her. And I mean it when I say it—I did _nothing._" She smiled; her eyes narrowed as it flickered with anger. "But blame me again, and I _will_ do something to her, far worse than a little 'death watch.' I will make her scream, Allen, oh, I will make her scream loudly and make her beg for mercy compared to what she has now." She took the half-eaten lollipop and shoved it into his mouth. "And if you doubt me, I'll be more than willing to show you a demonstration of sorts."

"No, not needed. I believe you." He didn't want to know what she would do to Lenalee. "Then, if you didn't do anything, how come...?"

"Oh, I knew there was something wrong with her the moment she said it. She lied to you, her brother, and everyone around her." She took the lollipop out of Allen's mouth and popped it back into her own. "So I checked into it after I ate lunch with a good friend of mine. She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer several months—maybe even a year—ago, but she told the doctor to put it in her report otherwise, that she was all right, because she had no health insurance. And yesterday, she forged the report again to not worry her brother as much." Her smile looked wicked. "She's been a dead-man walking ever since you met her, Allen."

Thunder shook the dormitory as lightning clapped. The rain came down harder. He swallowed the feeling of helplessness as she stroked his cheek. "Th... that doesn't sound like her at all," he said, eyebrows furrowed. "She wouldn't lie to everyone! She just wouldn't do that!"

"Really?" Road looked bored. "Not even to protect her friends from a horrible truth?"

That floored him. He knew Lenalee would do anything to keep her friends safe to any means. Lying never crossed his mind, though. Especially with her. But it sounded right—Lenalee, knowing that she couldn't possibly pay anything to get herself help (and, even if she did, the chances of her surviving were slim to none), told the doctor to lie, and then she lied herself. All to protect them. The thought choked him up again as the warm arms brought him closer to Road.

"It's all right, Allen. It'll be okay."

"Get away from me," he whispered. "You aren't even human. You don't care about anything."

She snickered as she pulled away from him, tilting her head ever-so-slightly. "Really now?" she said, grin dancing on her lips. "I'm not human? But don't I _feel_ human? I'm warm. And I breathe the same air you do. The only difference between you and me is that I can live forever, whereas you cannot. You remember the time I stabbed myself, yes?" His shudder made her chuckle. "I take that as a yes, so I don't need to demonstrate again. And I do care about things, Allen. In fact, I care enough to even tell you a little secret."

He shivered as she breathed against his ear, making the hairs prickle on the back of his neck. "What secret?" he asked.

"There's a river far from here," she said, fingers tracing shapes on his back. "It has the ability to heal any sickness the drinker has. After the Great Flood that occurred according to the Bible, every body of water dried up, including the oceans, to make way for land. Noah and the others found the river after some time, and by drinking it, he lived for seven hundred or so years. The human race prospered again, as you know, and the oceans restored. But the river was the last body of water to flow after the Earth dried up. If you want to heal Lenalee now," she licked the side of his face, making him tense, "you have to get the last remains of this ancient river."

"How do I get there?"

"No regular human can get there alone." She sat up in his lap. "I'll have to take you there. If you have such an objection, don't go—and let Lenalee die, see if I care. But if you really want to help her, you have to come with me. And it's not going to be easy. See, this little thing known as the government is trying to get me, trying to kill me. If you come along, there is no doubt in my mind they will try to kill you, too, Allen. Tell me your answer by tomorrow morning—I will wait in that cafe with the delicious smoothies."

She stilled his face from moving away with both hands as she planted another kiss on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling, as the kiss drew out longer than he anticipated. His eyes started to relax as he felt himself being pushed down onto his bed. A blanket covered him as his mind washed over with sleep.

Road giggled as she stared at her little sheep. "I can't believe he fell for that," she said with a grin. She brushed the bangs out of his eyes before opening her door. "You're mine, now."

_And I don't intend to let you get away._

~X~

**Ah, end of chapter 5. If you feel like it, leave a review, make a favorite, or alert! If not, well, no hard feelings—sometimes I'm really lazy and don't do any of those things (my profile reveals my like of favorite anythings). Until next time! —Nobody Odd**


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